Midaq Alley

Midaq Alley (El callejón de los milagros), directed by Jorge Fons, is a Mexican film adapted from Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz's novel of the same name, transplanting its World War II era, British occupied Cairo setting to 1990s Mexico City. The film weaves together four separate lives around the same courtyard, including the story of cantina owner Don Rutilio confronting his suppressed homosexuality after thirty years of marriage, a notably bold subject for Mexican cinema at the time. Salma Hayek made her breakthrough starring role as Alma in the film, the same year she also broke into Hollywood with Desperado. The film dominated Mexico's Ariel Awards, winning 11 of its 22 nominations, and received a Special Mention at the Berlin Film Festival. Who it's for: anyone curious about a Mexican film that relocates an Egyptian novel from Cairo to Mexico City, including a storyline about homosexuality notably bold for its time, and marked a turning point in Salma Hayek's career. Who it's not for: those looking for the novel's original Cairo setting, since this adaptation transposes the story to an entirely different geography and era.